The Joe Biden And Peter Doocy Moment Everyone's Talking About Explained
It's the hot mic moment everyone is buzzing about. While taking questions from reporters at the White House Monday, President Joe Biden called Fox News' Peter Doocy "a stupid son of a b***h" (via NBC News). The cringeworthy comment came after Doocy shouted out a question about inflation, asking the commander in chief if it would be a "political liability" as we near the midterm elections, according to USA Today and The Hill.
Biden did not know his microphone was still on and retorted, "No, it's a great asset. More inflation." That's when he used the expletive. The President soon learned his remarks were caught on video and reached out to Doocy to speak about the unfortunate incident, reportedly within the hour.
The reporter appeared on "Hannity" later and disclosed, "[Biden] called my cellphone and he said, 'It's nothing personal, pal.' He cleared the air and I appreciated it. We had a nice call."
As The Hill notes, Biden and Doocy have gotten into it before. USA Today reports Biden has been caught on a hot mic unintentionally in the past as well.
This is not the first time the White House clashed with Peter Doocy
Speaking to Mediaite in August, Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki gave people some insight into the White House's relationship with Doocy. "You know I would say that people don't see this every day, but we fully recognize Peter Doocy as — and many reporters, right? They are doing their jobs and working on behalf of the media organizations they represent and asking, sometimes they're questions that are tough. Sometimes they have a slant to them," she said (via People).
"But my engagement with him, people don't always see this, but outside the briefing room, it is entirely professional and entirely, hopefully, responsive," she also explained, adding, "There's a performative component from the TV side of the briefing room."
No matter how many of Doocy and Biden's interactions are for show, Twitter has a lot of opinions about what went down on Monday. Not surprisingly, some people applauded the country's leader for his comment. "Raise your hand if you agree with President Biden," one person tweeted. George Takei tweeted, "My only critique of Joe Biden calling Peter Doocy a stupid son of a b***h over a hot mic was that he didn't do it sooner."
But another take was, "Peter Doocy broke Joe Biden" and someone else opined, "Peter Doocy gets yelled at by Biden because he's an actual journalist asking questions that matter."